Wiktor Wise
An electronic tongue is an intelligent identification device that uses sensor arrays and advanced pattern recognition algorithms to measure and compare tastes. It is an in vitro evaluation technique that simulates the human taste system and circumvents the ethical issues of human sensory evaluation. The electronic tongue has a wide range of applications, including the analysis of food products, water samples, and pharmaceuticals. It can also be used to evaluate the quality of fruits and predict bacterial counts during cold storage. In the pharmaceutical industry, the electronic tongue is useful for taste-masking bitter-tasting drugs and developing age-appropriate formulations for children. Interestingly, the concept of an electric tongue for speaking is also associated with a musical effect called a talk box, which involves shaping the sound of a musical instrument with the mouth and tongue, creating the illusion of the instrument speaking.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Definition | An intelligent identification device that measures and compares tastes |
| Mechanism | An array of sensors with partial specificity to different solution components and an appropriate pattern recognition instrument |
| Use cases | Pharmaceuticals, food and beverage industry, environmental monitoring, medical diagnostics, herbal products, detection of endotoxins and pesticides |
| Advantages | Cost-effective, rapid detection, objective results, enhanced sensitivity, reduced impact of interferents, ability to handle extreme conditions |
| Disadvantages | Limited studies and applications outside of food, beverages, and pharmaceuticals |
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What You'll Learn
Mimicking human taste
An electronic tongue is an intelligent identification device that is used to mimic the human taste system. It is composed of several sensor arrays and advanced pattern recognition algorithms. The sensor array produces electrical response signals, which are then processed by a computerized pattern recognition system to derive taste-related information.
The use of an electronic tongue is advantageous in situations where human expert panels cannot or should not be used. For example, in the case of automatic process control, particularly on an industrial scale, or when dealing with poisonous or extreme condition samples such as repetitive tasting of drugs and pharmaceuticals. In addition, there are economic benefits to using an electronic tongue, in terms of both time and financial expenses.
The electronic tongue can be used to analyse food products, water samples, and taste-masking technologies for pharmaceuticals. It is particularly useful for evaluating the taste of bitter-tasting drugs, which are often masked by adding flavouring agents to improve patient acceptability and compliance. The electronic tongue can also be used to monitor the environment, medical diagnostics, herbal products, and the detection of endotoxins and pesticides.
The electronic tongue has been used to evaluate the taste of various foods and beverages, including pineapple juice, plum juice, kiwifruit, strawberries, Chinese medicines, coffee, clam extracts, edible mushrooms, and pharmaceuticals. It offers highly sensitive detection capabilities and can analyse samples that may be difficult to differentiate through human oral tasting. The measurement data is also characterized by enhanced objectivity and reproducibility, making it a promising tool for practical applications.
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Taste-sensing system
An electronic tongue or taste-sensing system is an analytical sensory array unit that can detect specific substances using different artificial membranes and electrochemical techniques. These systems are trained to screen taste attributes of formulations rapidly, alongside human taste assessment data.
The primary function of the tongue is to aid in gustation, as the upper surface is covered in papillae and taste buds. The cranial nerves carry the action potential initiated in taste buds to the brain, where taste is registered. The electronic tongue mimics this biological mechanism by generating electric signals as voltammetric and potentiometric variations.
The taste-sensing system consists of three principal components: a sensory array, equipment for emitting and receiving signals, and pattern recognition. The system uses taste sensors to receive information from chemicals on the tongue and send it to a pattern recognition system. The sensors detect dissolved organic and inorganic compounds, just like human receptors, and each sensor has a unique spectrum of reactions. The information from each sensor is complementary, and the combination of all sensor results generates a unique fingerprint.
The taste-sensing system has applications in various sectors, including the pharmaceutical industry, food and beverage, and environmental monitoring. It can be used to analyse flavour ageing in beverages, quantify bitterness or spiciness, and detect spoilage. The system offers highly sensitive detection and can analyse samples that may be difficult for human taste panels, such as poisonous or extreme-condition samples.
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Taste attributes of pharmaceuticals
An electronic tongue or e-tongue is an instrument that measures and compares tastes. It uses taste sensors to receive information from chemicals on the tongue and send it to a pattern recognition system. This system can be used to analyse flavour ageing in beverages, quantify bitterness or the "spicy level" of drinks, and measure bitterness in teas.
Taste is a critical factor in pharmaceutical development, especially for oral dosage forms. Many pharmaceutical products have an inherently bitter taste, which can be off-putting for patients, particularly children. This can lead to difficulties swallowing and negatively impact patient adherence to a treatment regimen. Taste-masked medicines are therefore preferred by parents, children, and physicians alike.
To overcome this challenge, developers use flavourings and taste-masking technologies to make oral dosage forms taste pleasant. Different techniques are applied to mask the bitter taste of active ingredients, including film coating, complexation with cyclodextrin, using sweeteners or flavouring agents, ion-exchange resins, and using lipids. Lipids, in particular, have been widely used in assessing taste and palatability of pharmaceutical and food formulations. They have a lower melting point, which is ideal for incorporating drugs using methods like hot-melt extrusion, melt granulation, spray drying/congealing, and emulsification.
In recent years, novel in vitro taste assessment apparatus and methodologies have been developed for high-throughput taste screening and quality control. Biomimetic taste sensing systems (BMTSSs), such as multichannel taste sensors or electronic tongues with global selectivity, have been welcomed by pharmaceutical scientists and the industry as a whole. These emerging in vitro approaches are expected to result in a decreased reliance on human panel tests.
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Qualitative and quantitative analysis of taste
An electronic tongue is an instrument that measures and compares tastes. It uses taste sensors to receive information from chemicals on the tongue and sends it to a pattern recognition system. The result is the detection of the tastes that compose the human palate. The types of taste that are generated are divided into five categories: sourness, saltiness, bitterness, sweetness, and umami (savouriness).
The idea behind using low-selective sensors is based on the biological organisation of taste systems in mammals. In the region of the tongue, there are several million nonspecific receptors that respond to different substances. The taste signals from the receptors are transmitted to the brain and processed by a network of neurons. The electronic tongue mimics this process by generating electric signals as voltammetric and potentiometric variations. Taste quality perception and recognition are based on the building or recognition of activated sensory nerve patterns by the brain and the taste fingerprint of the product. This step is achieved by the e-tongue's statistical software, which interprets the sensor data into taste patterns.
The electronic tongue has several applications in various industrial areas, including the pharmaceutical industry, food and beverage sector, and environmental monitoring. It can be used to analyse flavour ageing in beverages, quantify bitterness or spiciness, and assess the quality of wine. It is also useful for food authentication, ensuring that products comply with labelling requirements in terms of brand, origin, ingredients, and production process.
The primary method for taste measurement of drug substances has traditionally been human panelists. However, this method is difficult and problematic due to the potential toxicity of drugs and the subjectivity of taste panelists. Therefore, the electronic tongue has been replacing sensory panelists as it can assess taste without the same risks and challenges.
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Advantages over human sensory panels
An electronic tongue is an array of sensors immersed in liquids to identify their different physical and chemical characteristics, such as taste. It can be used in the pharmaceutical and food industries to monitor the quality of products.
The use of electronic tongues has several advantages over human sensory panels. Firstly, it reduces the number of samples that need to be assessed by human panels, particularly when the substance to be tasted is harmful or toxic to humans. This also lowers the risk of human subjectivity in the results. Secondly, electronic tongues can analyse toxic substances without any risk to human health. Thirdly, they are fast, accurate, and objective, providing precise and continuous measurements. They are also easy to handle and have a low set-up cost.
Another advantage is that, unlike human taste receptors, electronic tongues do not suffer from detection fatigue or a decrease in sensitivity over time. This means that electronic tongues can provide consistent results over a long period, which is not always possible with human panels.
In addition, electronic tongues can be portable and compact, allowing measurements to be taken in various places. They can also be coupled with other models, such as the PCA model, to demonstrate the quality assessment of fruits.
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Frequently asked questions
An electronic tongue is an intelligent identification device that uses several sensor arrays and advanced pattern recognition algorithms to measure and compare tastes.
The electronic tongue simulates the human taste system by producing electrical response signals that are then processed by a computerized pattern recognition system to derive taste-related information.
The electronic tongue is used to replace human taste panelists in the evaluation of products such as food, beverages, and pharmaceuticals, especially when human tasting is not possible or advisable due to factors such as toxicity, unpleasant taste, or economic reasons.
The electronic tongue offers several advantages over human taste panelists, including increased objectivity and reproducibility of results, the ability to handle toxic or unpleasant samples, and reduced time and financial expenses.
Some examples of electronic tongue applications include the evaluation of food products such as juices, coffee, and pharmaceuticals, as well as the detection of endotoxins, pesticides, and environmental monitoring.
